It Japan is the toughest, most competitive, fastest-moving consumer market in the world....Japanese companies sharpen their teeth-competing furiously against one another-in their own home market. Japan represents the cutting edge of world-wide product technology in literally hundreds of product cutegories.... “Compete with them in their own back yard, for you will eventually have to compete with them at home,” has been one of our driving motivations to succeed in Japan.
To control it global brands better, P&G has experimented with a form of matrix organization, where brands and countries are linked together in the organizational structure. “Under its Eurobrand system, a number of lines such as Vizir and Ariel are run by international brand managers who are then expected to report upwards to their own national general managers, and diagonally to the Eurobrand manager and through him to the lead country general manager.” Although this seems like a great way to coordinate activities around the world, it has been very difficult to execute on a consistent basis.